Sunday, March 27, 2011

Little (zinc) lambs

Zinc markers, with their distinctive blue-gray color, dot the country cemeteries in Delaware County, Ohio.

On a recent walk through Shoup-Thompson Cemetery, I found three zinc markers, smaller than many I see, marking the graves of children. 




CLYDE LEE,
SON OF
THOMAS & M.J. FRYMAN,
BORN OCTOBER 24, 1879
DIED JULY 6, 1880
AGE
8 MO’S 12 DAYS.



ADA,
DAUGHTER OF
S. W. & V.
PENTONEY,
BORN MAY 1881,
DIED NOV. 1883.



WILLIE
OWEN,
SON OF
J. A. & S.A. MAIZE,
BORN
AUG. 27, 1877,
DIED JULY 18, 1880.
Clyde Lee’s epitaph, on the back face of the marker, caught my eye.

I take little LEE,
And lay him on my
breast,
Protection he shall
find in me,
And be ever blest.

The epitaph, common enough on children’s gravestones, has been personalized by replacing “the little lamb” with “little Lee.”

What else is interesting here? The epitaph is in caps and lowercase. Lowercase! Take a look at your collection of zinc gravestone photos—I bet the inscriptions on nearly all are in all caps.


Shoup-Thompson Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio

1 comment:

  1. Have Lambs on my family gravestones: Bridget (d. 1932)and James F. Lamb (d. 1937) in NY. http://bit.ly/hgTaRI

    ReplyDelete

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